Archive for May, 2009

First Long Run of 2009

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

After church today I put in my first long run of the season. It’s only ten miles, but I have to start somewhere. Jeannie and Peter met me along the course on the canal path. Peter rode his bike beside me for a half-mile and on my return, Jeannie provided me with gu and water. That was nice since it was pretty hot and I started my run at 12:30 in the afternoon.

Long run; out and back from home, along Olden ave., Parkway ave., Lower Ferry rd., and the D&R canal path (technically the feeder canal).
10 miles.
Mile 1: 7:51
Mile 2: 7:52
Mile 3: 8:40 – stopped to put Pete’s chain back on his bike 🙂
Mile 4: 8:27
Mile 5: 8:19
Mile 6: 8:32
Mile 7: 8:24
Mile 8: 8:43
Mile 9: 8:34
Mile 10: 8:17

Saturday: Diana 5k Run

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

I trained for an hour before the Diana 5k Run:
– repeats of gyakuzuke in place (x60 each side)
– repeats of mai geri ushiro in place (x60 each side)
– basics, combinations
– 5 attack sparring
– Striking force training (kicks and punches)

Diana Run 5k race in Plainsboro – 21:52 (7:02 avg pace):
Mile 1.0: 6:35
Mile 2.0: 7:12
Mile 3.0: 7:20
Mile 3.1: 0:44

I finished in 32nd place; not my best 5k time but I’m pretty sore from my first week of marathon training, a new circuit routine on Wednesday, and lots of kicks this morning right before the race. Congratulations to Jen Liney who took first place in the women’s category with a time of 19:49. The course was great – slight decline in the first mile, then back up the same path in the last mile. The course was laid out in a very simple way, which was nice.

I’ve actually run near this course before. When I run eight miles at lunch I do an out-and-back starting at Dow Jones in South Brunswick and turn around at the parking lot of the middle school in Plainsboro (which is four miles each way). The parking lot is where the 5k began. Now if I’m feeling adventurous and have an extra 20 minutes I can add three more miles of familiar territory to my eight mile run.

Friday: Abs and a Run

Friday, May 29th, 2009

I took a 30 minute abs class at DJFC today. My marathon schedule called for a five mile run at 8:07, but since I plan to run a 5k tomorrow, I just did a three mile run after abs.

30 minutes of abs, instructor led:
Plank routine:
– Plank position with feet on disc sliders: 20 sideway slides with each foot
– 30 second plank hold (on hands, not elbows)
– Plank position with feed on disc sliders: 20 forward slides with each foot to opposite arm
– 30 second plank hold
– short stretch and rest
(Repeat plank routine two more times)

Body bar routine:
– Laying on floor, legs straight, 18 lb body bar extended overhead, sit up with bar, holding overhead extending to ceiling (repeat 10 times); on last one lay back one vertebrae at a time.
– Holding legs straight up and body bar straight over chest, crunch up to touch shins with the bar (repeat 10 times)
– Extend legs toward floor with knees straight, curl legs back toward bar and lift hips to have legs touch the bar (repeat 10 times)
– 10 sets of bicycles while holding the bar
(Repeat body bar routine two more times)

Side planks:
– On right arm with left arm staight to ceiling, legs parallel to each other; hold 30 seconds
– Bend top leg so foot rests on lower calve; hold 15 seconds
– Lift top leg and hold straight in the air over the lower leg; hold 15 seconds
– Switch and repeat with the other leg.

Easy 3.1 mile run after abs (~24 mins)

Thursday: Tempo Run and Swimming

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Today marks the second day of my scheduled marathon training. Sure, I’ve already run three times this week (four if you count the sprints I did yesterday as part of the circuit), but I don’t count those toward my marathon training. Today calls for 5 miles of running with three of those miles at tempo pace. The pace should be 6:45, which is a bit aggressive right now. I know my tempo pace is slower than that so I’ll be working up to it. I ran from the house to TCNJ and around the campus, then past Parkway Elementary school and back home.

Stats:
5.17 mi run (3 mi at tempo pace):
Mile 1: 8:36
Mile 2: 6:58
Mile 3: 7:30
Mile 4: 7:28
Mile 5: 8:34
Mile 5.17: 1:33

In the evening, I went to Gold’s to put in another swimming session (still training for the NYC Nautica triathlon). I need to be able to swim by the end of July so I don’t drown in the Hudson river.
– Warm-up freestyle for 6 minutes (completed 5 laps)
– 3 x 100 kicks: freestyle with fins and board
– 1 x 100 freestyle, rest 10 seconds
– 1 x 100 freestyle, rest 20 seconds
– 1 x 100 freestyle, rest 30 seconds
– 1 x 100 freestyle
– 3 x 100 pulls, freestyle; breathe every 8 strokes, with paddles and buoy
– 300 free – swim down

Wednesday: A New Training Routine

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

A trainer at the DJ Fitness Center showed me a new training routine (listed below). It was tough, but I plan to repeat it next week. In the morning I did a warm-up run before karate.

– Run 3.1 miles (1 mile barefoot)
Karate:
– 70 reverse punches each arm
– 70 front kicks each leg
– freestyle basics
– sparring: double jodan attack to jaw
– sparring: 5 attack sparring full length of floor

At lunch, I did a free 30 minute training session with a trainer at Dow Jones’ Fitness Center, Lisa Curtin. It was a tough workout; here’s what the circuit involved:

– 0.5 mi sprint on the treadmill (ran 0.15 at 10mph, 0.15-0.40 at 11mph, last 0.10 at 12mph)
– 10 plyometric pushups on two risers
– 15 star hops (reaching to the ceiling)
– 500 meters on the rower
– 1 length of frog hops (down the long hallway)
– 1 length of walking lunges with two 35lb dumbbells
– 1 mile on the bike (~135 rpm)
– 10 step-ups with each leg on the large metal stand.

Repeat one more time.

I didn’t fit the second circuit into the half-hour of the trainer-led session since I burned a few minutes at the start on a warm-up. I did finish the routine on my own though. It was awesome and challenging. I recommend trying it out.

First Day of Marathon Training

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

Today is officially the first day of my scheduled training for the Steamtown Marathon. My schedule includes 16 weeks of running, the distance of which totals 604 miles. The maximum distance I’ll reach is 40 miles in a week.

At lunch today, I was supposed to run six miles at an 8:07 pace. Here’s what happened:

– 6 mile run, ~7:30 pace
Mile 1: 7:33
Mile 2: 7:35
Mile 3: 7:36
Mile 4: 7:46
Mile 5: 7:50
Mile 6: 7:08

Later in the day, I repeated my swimming routine from Memorial Day, but added a few more laps here and there:
– Warm-up freestyle for 6 minutes (completed 5 laps)
– 3 x 100 kicks: freestyle with fins and board
– 1 x 100 freestyle, rest 10 seconds
– 1 x 100 freestyle, rest 20 seconds
– 1 x 100 freestyle, rest 30 seconds
– 1 x 100 freestyle
– 3 x 100 pulls, freestyle; breathe every 8 strokes, with paddles and buoy
– 300 free – swim down

Memorial Day Training

Monday, May 25th, 2009

Happy Memorial Day. Thank you to all those who serve and who have served in the U.S. military.

I had to work today, although it is a holiday today at Dow Jones. Fortunately, I didn’t start until noon, which gave me time to get in some training. I swam and ran today at Gold’s. I couldn’t get started early though since Gold’s didn’t open until 7am.

Swim led by instruction (distances in meters):
– Warm-up freestyle for 6 minutes (completed 5 laps)
– 2 x 100 kicks: freestyle with fins and board
– 1 x 100 freestyle, rest 10 seconds
– 1 x 100 freestyle, rest 20 seconds
– 1 x 100 freestyle
– 2 x 100 pulls, freestyle; breathe every 8 strokes, with paddles and buoy
– 200 free – swim down
Focus on keeping body “long”; don’t touch walls (no push-offs) or floor during laps.

After the swim I did a leisurely 3.5 mile run in about 25 minutes.